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Patented .Tune 6, 1882..v

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UNITED STATES] PATENT OFFIC. i

JAMES J. BROPHY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 259,036, dated June 6,1 882.

` Appnation ined Apri124,1ss2. (No modem To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JAMES J. BROPHY, of the city, county, and State ofNew York, have invented a new and Improved Detective-Alarm forFire-Alarm Boxes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription.

Fire-alarm boxes as usually arranged are ac'-4 cessible for sounding analarm by a door which is opened by a key, so that any one inpossessiouofa suitable keymay give the alarm.v It has been foundnecessary in connection with theseboxestopreventthe givingoffalsealarms, and todo this various methods have been proposed. In somecases the hinged doors of the boxes have been constructed to give alocal alarm when opened; but this is objectionable for several reasons,especially because the local-alarm bell being accessible throughapertures made in the box for escape of the sound, and completelyaccessible when the 'door is opened, its operation can be stopped, and,further, as the doors of lsuch boxes are opened at frequent intervals byinspectors, the al'arm,

has been an annoyance. In addition, the alarm is insufficient on accountof the small size of gong that can be received in the box. It has alsobeen proposed to give the local alarrnfby placing the key at some pointadjacent to the lire-alarm box in connection with the alarm, which issounded on removal of the key; but that is useless in the lightofexperience, which shows that the regularkeys are seldom, it' ever, usedby persons giving false alarms. There are other practical objections toany of the methods heretofore proposed for detecting false alarms.

' My invention consists in a mechanism for giving a local alarm, whichis brought into operation by mechanical devices onlyv when the pull bywhich the lire-alarm is given is moved, so that the usual constructionand arrangement of the boxes are not changed in any respect, and thedoor is left free to be opened and closed, as usual.

I further provide for obviating` all the difficultiesconnected with thearrangement of such a local alarm andprevent any tampering with it, ashereinafter described and claimed.

Reference is to be `had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ot'this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is an elevation, showing a tirealarm box as applied upon atelegraphpole and provided with my alarm devices. Fig. 2 is an elevationof a fire-alarm box with both the inner and outer doors open to show thecircuit-'closing' mechanism. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view,showing the connections for operating the detective-alarm.l Fig. 4 is asectional front elevation of the detective or local alarm mechanism.Fig. 5isa transverse section of the saine.

A is a tire-alarm box, provided with a hinged door, a, which, whenopened, givesA access to the slide or pull b, by which thecircuit-closing drum c is rotated, and also provided with an innerhinged door, d, that gives accessto the interior of the box. ing thetire-alarm is of the usual construction, and need not be explained indetail, and 'itis to be understood that only the outer door, a, has tobe opened for sounding an alarm.

The box A is iixed upon the pole B,aud the axis e of the circuit-closerc extends through the back plateof the box into the space between suchback plate and the pole 5 and within this space, upon the axis e, Iplace the devices for operating the local alarm, so that they are notaccessible by opening either door of the box.

On the pole B, at asuitable height from the ground, so as to beaccessible only by use ot' This mechanism for giva ladder, is xed a box,C. This box contains a gong, f, of large size, and a spring-barrelfitted for operating a trip-wheel, g, that acts upon a pivoted hammer,h., so that the hammer is caused to strike the bell by the rotation ofthe wheel g.

Upon the gear-wheel i, by which the spring rotates the wheel g, are pinsk and lis a rod extending from the alarm-box C to the lower box, A,which rod,when raised in contact with the pins k, serves to hold thestriking mechanism out of action. rlhe rodl extends into the back of thebox A, and through an arm, m, that is on the end of the axis e of thecircuitcloser. The lower end of the rod l is provided with a button,against which the arm takes so as to' draw the rod downward when theaxis is rotated; but'the connection of the arm m to the rod l shouldbeloose, so that the arm may return to its first position withoutraising the rod l.

Between the box C and the box A the rod l is contained within a tube, n,so that it cannot be got at or tampered with, and just beneath the b oxC the .rod is provided with a crosspin, o, which is to be used forraising the rod IOO IOS

by the person who winds the alarm mechanism. It will be observed thatnone of the parts connected with the local alarm are accessible exceptforwinding up the striking mechanism, and that being placed at anelevation, a ladder must be used to reach it. By this construction andarrangement the door a ot' the realarm box can be opened; but no localalarm will be given until the slide b is pulled down to give theire-alarm, and as soon as theslide b is drawn down, the rod l being alsocarried downward, the spring mechanism in the box C is released and thealarm will be sounded, and will continue to sound until the spring hasrun down.

There is no possibility of any interference with this local alarm, andthus, in case a firealarm is sounded by any person, attention isimmediately drawn to the box.

rEhe striking mechanism Would necessarily have to be wound after everyalarm. This could be readily attended to by the truckmen of thetire-department, who are called out at every alarm, and are alwaysprovided with small ladders that can be conveniently used for thepurpose.

The tube through which the rod of the alarm passes may be the usual tubecontaining the lire-telegraph Wires; or a separate tubemay be used. Theupper end of the rod is bent slightly for extending over the stop-pins,so that the rod may not be caused to fall by thcjar of the passingwagons.

Having thus described my invent-ion, I claim as newand desire to secureby Letters Patent- The combination, with a fire-alarm circuitcloseraxis, e, having arm m, of a superposed box containing gongf, trip-Wheelg, pivoted hammer h, and gear-wheel i, having pins k, and the rod l,extending into the back of box A loosely through arm in, having an endbutton, and provided with a cross-pin, o, as and for the purposespecified.

JAMES J. BROPHY.

Witnesses:

GEO. D. WALKER, G. SEDGWICK.

